Once the hike is complete, you can scratch off the gold foil to reveal an illustration of the park. In the summer of 1853, Grant was promoted to captain and transferred to Fort Humboldt on the Northern California coast, where he had a run-in with the fort's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Buchanan. Ulysses wasn’t his real first name. Get exclusive deals, product news, reviews, and more with the Mental Floss Smart Shopping newsletter. He died a few days after the book was completed; his widow ultimately received about $450,000 in royalties. While his legacy has varied over the years, his unmistakable valor and ability to pull himself up by his (inevitably disheveled) bootstraps make him a fascinating figure in American history. Grant finished his book just before he died; the two-volume Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant was a critical and commercial success, earning Julia royalties of about $450,000 (or more than $10 million today). “You know I have an “S” in my name and don’t know what it stands for.”, WATCH: The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents on HISTORY Vault. Ulysses S. Grant, original name Hiram Ulysses Grant, (born April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio, U.S.—died July 23, 1885, Mount McGregor, New York), U.S. general, commander of the Union armies during the late years (1864–65) of the American Civil War, and 18th president of the United States (1869–77). Grant struggled to secure a field command at the outbreak of the Civil War, but was later placed in charge of a regiment of Illinois volunteers and quickly promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Grant led a charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma during the Mexican-American War. After a year he freed him, for no recompense even though Grant was in dire financial straits.eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'historyhit_com-leader-1','ezslot_7',162,'0','0'])); Coming from an abolitionist family, his father didn’t approve of Grant’s slave owning in-laws. Taylor led Grant in his first military battle, along with thousands of troops, at the Battle of Palo Alto, with Grant going on to fight in nearly every major battle of the war. Grant took Twain up on his offer, and later finished the book just a few days before succumbing to cancer in July 1885. The perfect gift for park baggers in your life (or yourself), this 16-inch-by-20-inch poster features epic hikes like Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park and Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. 6. President Grant’s real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. However, he was not assigned to the cavalry due to his low grades and class rank. But when Johnson, a former Democrat, became President after Lincoln’s death, the two men eventually became opponents. To make money for his family, Grant wrote several articles on his Civil War experiences for The Century Magazine, and the editor suggested he write his memoirs. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer had been sent to attack the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne Native Americans at Little Big Horn. “Under such circumstances, it is but reasonable to suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred.”. “I urged them to ascertain and let me know,” Lincoln later said, “for if it made fighting generals like Grant, I should like to get some of it for distribution.”, Grant received numerous demerits for his unkempt uniforms during his days at West Point, and his distaste for military dress continued even after he assumed supreme command of the Union Army during the Civil War. Not only does it contain supplies for pain, cuts and scrapes, burns, and blisters (every hiker’s nemesis! In 1852, he was sent to Fort Vancouver, in what is now Washington State. Others who were gathered in a cellar for a wake were caught by surprise by the flood and drowned in beer. He tried to farm land that had been given to him by his father-in-law, but this venture proved to be unsuccessful after a few years. Check out 10 little-known facts about America’s 18th commander in chief. 5. In December 1862, Grant moved overland to take Vicksburg — a key fortress city of the Confederacy — but his attack was stalled by Confederate cavalry raider Nathan Bedford Forest, as well as due to getting bogged down in the bayous north of Vicksburg. The following month, from November 22 to November 25, Union forces routed Confederate troops in Tennessee at the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, known collectively as the Battle of Chattanooga. A clerical error had listed him as Ulysses S. Grant. On October 17, 1814, one of the metal hoops meant to secure it snapped, and the wooden vat succumbed to the immense pressure of all that fermenting brew. This gadget contains 19 hiking-friendly tools in a 4.5-inch package, including pliers, screwdrivers, bottle opener, saw, knife, hammer, wire cutter, and even an emergency whistle. He is buried beside his wife in Grant’s Tomb, the largest mausoleum in North America. The treaty was approved by the Dominicans but stalled in the Senate. Grant himself said that he liked painting and drawing whilst at West Point. He’d never held any elected position, and had shown little interest in running for office before the Republican Party nominated him as its candidate. Grant's final resting place is a 150-foot-high tomb in New York City. His luck didn’t seem to get any better—soon after, he learned he had throat cancer. According to the NPS, the tomb, designed by John Duncan, is the largest mausoleum in North America. However, during his lifetime he remained popular, seen as a national hero. Grant married his West Point roommate's sister, Julia Boggs Dent, on Aug. 22, 1848. If you called him Ulysses S. Grant during his youth, he wouldn’t know who you were talking about. Their son Frederick would become the Assistant Secretary of War under President William McKinley. From modest beginnings and Civil War military victories to the United States presidency and tough times in between, Ulysses S. Grant was a complicated man in perhaps the most complicated time in the country’s history. Ulysses S. Grant was the commander of the Union armies during the American Civil War, and then the 18th President of the United States. Despite the unofficial two-term rule in use since George Washington—the 22nd Amendment, establishing an official presidential term limit, was ratified in 1951—Grant attempted a third term four years after leaving office, but couldn’t get enough votes at the Republican convention. Illinois congressman Elihu Washburne took a chance on Grant and arranged a meeting with the governor of Illinois, Richard Yates. Hikers can use this brand-new, updated road atlas to plan their next adventure. In May 1865 Johnson issued a Proclamation of Amnesty, pardoning Confederates if they took a simple oath of allegiance to the United States. However, he also signed a bill ending the Indian treaty system, which had established Native American groups as sovereign states: The new law treated them as wards of the federal government. The editor of the town’s Daily Citizen newspaper was even reduced to printing the news on wallpaper.